Just Coffee
by Wesfan1234
Summary: What if you turned to one of your best friends when you were lonely? WC pairing
1. Chapter One

Title:  Just Coffee

Author:  WesFan1234

Summary:  What if you turned to one of your best friends when you were lonely? 

Pairing:  Wesley/Cordelia

Disclaimer:  The characters aren't mine, sadly.  Just my AU.  Lots of love to Joss.

Note:  This first part takes place sometime after "She" but before "5x5" in the first season.  I've seen on a lot of boards that some people seem to think that Cordy had no sparkage with any one on the show (I think she does, but what do I know).  Well, I paired her with the one person who seems to have sparkage with every female around him.  Hope you like it.  Please give me feedback.  Lots of it!!

Just Coffee – Chapter One

Just Coffee, Cordelia had called it.  Some kind of dating service for people who couldn't find the time to meet eligible people to date.  It's not like he needed to meet women at the moment.  His life was full and interesting.

Oh, why was he kidding himself.  Both he and Cordelia had no social life to speak of.  Any time there seemed to be someone lovely, she ended up being a demon or running the other way when he inquired.

Was Wesley that much of a dork, he thought?  He couldn't even handle a conversation with a beautiful lady that had talked to him not a couple of weeks back at Cordy's soiree.  All he could talk about was his sweater.  He hadn't even realized until later, when Cordy had mentioned what a doofus he'd been with her friend that he'd messed up again.

Not like Cordelia's love life was any better, he chuckled to himself.  The only guy she had dated recently had made her pregnant with some demon spawn.

So here he was, in a coffee shop, trying to talk to a young lady.  She went on and on about her job, her friends, her apartment, not letting Wesley get a word in edgewise.

This woman was nothing like Cordelia, although the both of them seemed to be self-centered.  Cordy was interesting though.  She spared back and forth with him.  She made him feel needed.  He could talk to her about almost anything.

Good Lord, she had an honest opinion about everything.  Good old honest Cordy.  She always told you exactly what she was thinking.  Like when she told him he needed to get out more, spend time with a woman other than her.

Of course she had put it a little more succinctly.  "You need to go on a date, Wesley.  It's been like forever.'

She was right, just brutally right.  Since they'd been spending so much time together, and not just with Angel, but just the two of them, he hadn't craved female companionship that much.

Yes, there were things he missed of course, but Cordy did fill a need of his right then.  She was a good and true friend.  She cared about him although she didn't want to admit it.  He truly cared for her also.

"Wesley, um, are you OK?" the woman asked him.

The woman had finally stopped talking.  His ears were ringing from the constant noise.

"Yes.  I just realized that I have a two o'clock appointment with a client.  Must have slipped my mind."

"Well, it's only one.  Can you stay a little longer?"

Wesley stood up and looked down at her.  He couldn't even remember her name.  "It's all the way down in Anaheim.  I'll be late as it is.  It was nice meeting you."

He stuck his hand out to shake hers.

"Call me sometime," he heard her say as he walked away.

Getting to Cordelia's apartment hadn't taken him that long, since the coffee shop was only in Santa Monica.  She, of course, was his two o'clock appointment, even though it was one-thirty.  They'd had a late night, so Angel told them to take it easy that day.  Cordy wanted to hear all the juicy details about the coffee, so she invited him over before she had taken off for home early that morning for much needed sleep.

When she opened her door, he expected her to be all coiffed, but she answered in her shorts, a short tank top with her hair all askew and very little makeup.  She also had no shoes on.  Wesley didn't know why he had noticed that, but he had noticed before how lovely her feet were.  He had on many occasions given her foot rubs.  They were soft and somewhat delicate.  She always seemed to have on a different color of nail polish.  Today was a mauve tone that was very striking on her.

She started jumping up and down when she saw who it was.  He was almost tempted to look down from her face, but he didn't.  She was his friend.  He didn't ogle friends.  At least he didn't ogle her now.

There was a time when he did though.  Sunnydale seemed so far away now.  But it had been less than two years.  Thanks goodness she was already eighteen then.  Angel had started a relationship with Buffy when she was just sixteen and he was two hundred and whatever years old, Cordelia had told him.  At least he was closer in age to Cordy than Angel was to Buffy.

But it all had gone disastrously wrong.  The kiss in the library had totally gone completely wrong.  He didn't know how to handle a girl like Cordy.  There was no spark, because he'd messed up, again.  Tried too hard.

Cordy had wanted a sophisticated, older man and what she got was a schoolboy in a suit.  Not that he hadn't had girlfriends in the past, but she had scared him to death.  So that ended that.

The next kiss that they shared had not ended up so badly.  Matter of fact, he quite enjoyed it.  She had too, she admitted, but getting rid of the visions had been her priority then. 

"So, so.  What happened?" Cordelia led him into her apartment and over to the sofa.

"We had coffee.  Not much else to tell."

"What?  They didn't have the right kind of Earl Grey, so you walked out before saying hello."

"No, nothing like that.  She's a lovely girl."

"Hey, this is me you're lying to buster.  No sparkage?"

Wesley slumped over in defeat.  "No sparkage at all.  It was horrible as a matter of fact.  All she did was talk about herself and wouldn't let me get another word in edgewise.  Am I that boring?"

"Let's not touch on that one, shall we?  Listen, that's just you're first one.  There will be plenty of others.  So when's your next one?"

Cordy had curled herself onto the sofa beside him.  He could smell her perfume.  No, not perfume, shampoo.  Subtle, yet alluring nonetheless.

"No next one.  She was the only one to respond."

"For the moment, you mean.  Didn't you put down on your form all that stuff I gave you?"

"Why would I lie?"

"You didn't put down the demon slaying thing, did you?"  Cordy had moved a little closer to him, like they were sharing a secret, just between the two of them.

"Of course not.  I glossed it over."

"What did you put down, Wes?"

Cordy crossed her arms, like she meant business.  It pushed her chest up oh, so wonderfully, accentuating one of her best features, he had to admit.  But his mind was in the gutter.  And he had to climb out and quickly.

Wesley reached into his suit coat pocket to find his profile.  It wasn't where he thought it was, so he pulled the coat off so he could search a little better.  Besides, it had gotten a little warmer in Cordy's place since he had arrived.

"Here, give me that."  She took the jacket away from him and searched.  She found it quickly and unfolded it.  Now Wesley was embarrassed.  She would definitely ridicule him now.

"OK.  Height, 6'3".  You're really that tall?  I guess you are.  Weight, 145.  What?  Oh, that says 195.  Somehow I think it's somewhere in between.  You don't eat enough.  Have I told you that?  Eyes, blue."

Cordy moved even closer to look into his eyes.

"Yes, they're blue alright.  You know, that's what I remember about when I met you the first time.  I remember you had such nice eyes."

Nice eyes, he groaned inwardly.  No one ever told Angel he had nice eyes.  Broody eyes, dangerous eyes, maybe.  But nice, no way.

"No, not nice.  Sexy.  You really should have played them up in the photo.  Here, take your glasses off and let me see."

Wesley slid his glasses off and put them down on the table.  He couldn't see much past Cordelia.  Luckily she was pretty damn close to him.

"That's it.  We need to get you contacts.  What a difference.  Wow.  I never knew."

"Never knew what?"

"You have the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen on a guy.  And you hide them behind glasses."

Beautiful?  What on earth made her say that?  "Because I can't see anything more than a couple of feet in front of me if I don't have them on," he came back a little defensive.

"As I said, contacts.  OK, next.  Best attribute, teeth.  You actually said teeth.  What a dweeb."

That's when Wesley started to sputter.  "Well, I just thought a nice smile would come in handy, you know."

"Smile for me."

Wesley tried to smile.

"A real smile.  Not one of those fake ones you see on commercials or when you have to take one of those god-awful photos of the whole family."

Cordelia really did make him laugh and smile.  He hadn't had enough of that in his life.  He smiled at her again.  She smiled back, brightly.

"OK, nice smile, but teeth.  Next time, put nice smile instead of teeth.  You're not a horse.  OK, hobbies.  Translating Aramaic, crossword puzzles, and making bread."

She scowled at him fiercely.  Although he did like doing those things, they weren't exactly his favorite.  He'd just put the first things that had come to his mind.

"First things that came to your mind, huh?"

How did she know him so well?  It was like she could read his mind.

"You are so obvious.  Now, what do you like to do on a date?  Nice.  Quiet dinner, followed by dancing, and a moonlight stroll on the beach."

Cordy quirked one eyebrow up at him.  Or at least he thought that's what she'd done.  She had moved away from him to lean back against the arm of the sofa.  She put her feet in his lap.

TBC


	2. Chapter Two

Note:  Had to split it into two chapters.  It was just too long.  Warning:  some adult situations now.  The R part is coming (I never know how to rate these things.  Please tell me if I did it right.)  I conclude it with a scene in "You're Welcome", season five.  I couldn't remember the exact dialogue, so don't shoot me.  It's my AU.  Feedback please.

Just Coffee -- Chapter Two

"No advice is free, mister.  Pay up.  And no dancing please.  We all know how that turned out."

Wesley took her left foot in his hands and started to massage it.

"You could put that in your profile, but I want to keep that skill all to myself."

She actually moaned a little when he hit a particular spot.  She was such an emotional person, he thought.  Although she didn't want anyone to know it, she really did care about the people around her.

"Wes," Cordy breathed to him.  "You could go into business with those hands of yours."

Before he realized what he had done, his hand had worked its way up her calf.  God, just as soft, Wesley almost groaned aloud, but he didn't.

"The girls should be beating down the door for you."

But they weren't.  That's why he had gone to a dating service.  At her insistence of course.

"Why did you want me to go to that dating service, Cordelia?"

Wesley smoothed down her calf and took her right foot into his hands. He needed something else to concentrate on instead of her supple skin and smooth curves. He bet her whole body felt that way.

"Because I was worried about you.  You never have any fun.  Well, none of us do, but I thought . . . "

"Thought what?"

"That you just needed someone.  That's all.  I didn't get any kind of vision or anything, just a hunch.  Vision girl sees more than just grisly images in Technicolor you know."

"I know.  And I worry about you also.  How painful those visions are.  Every time I see you in pain, I want to take it away, make it all better for you."

Oops.  Where had that come from, he thought?  But Cordy smiled back at him.

"They should have a category for sweetness on that form.  You'd win hands down."

She moved back over to him, bending her leg against him in the process.  She placed her cool fingertips against his cheek.

"You are a sweet, sweet man."

Did he want to be sweet or did he want to be that take charge guy he thought he was?  Or could he be both?

That second kiss in Angel's apartment almost brought him to his knees.  Cordy had started the kiss fairly chastely until he had grabbed her and dove in.  What would she do if he did the same now?

He moved forward, ever so slightly, to test the waters so to speak.  And she hadn't moved.  She just stared at him.

"Blue ice or blue flame?  I can't decide which."

"Huh."  Uh, oh, Cordy was talking again.

"The color of your eyes.  That's what I've been trying to figure out for the past few minutes.  And I'm wondering if they change with your mood."

With that, Wesley relaxed into another genuine, heartfelt smile.

"We can do a little experiment then.  To see if they change at all."  He was baiting her, just to see where it would lead to next.

"Good ole' Wes.  Always the scientist."  She still hadn't moved away.  "What do I do?"

Cordy quirked her lips up into a smile that said it all.  She was game to play.

"A person's eyes do different things when he or she is frightened or sad."  Her hand had moved down to his shoulder from where she had placed on his cheek not moments earlier.

"Or say maybe hungry or lonely.  I mean hungry as in I need some meat and potatoes rather than the other way."

Cordy's blushing, he saw.  It really looked like she was.  Was she feeling some of the same things he was feeling?  Like if he didn't get his mouth on her soon, he'd expire right on her sofa.

"What do they look like right now?" he asked as he moved closer.

"Not sure.  Haven't finished the experiment just yet.  I'll tell you when I do."

Cordy crushed her mouth down on his, finally.  And she didn't close her eyes.  He didn't close his either.  They were lip-locked, but nothing else.  No movement between the two of them.  They stayed like this for what seemed an eternity.  Cordy finally broke the silence.

"What the hell?" Cordy murmured between their lips.  The movement willed Wesley into action.  He grabbed the back of her head, pulled it back ever so slightly and gave her a kiss she wouldn't soon forget.  No talking for her now.

He'd even forgotten about looking at her, he was so stunned by the softness and contours of her lips.  He could feast here for hours and never get bored.  No wonder that second kiss had been so great.  He wasn't nervous this time though.

This was Cordelia, the woman, not some teenage crush.  She moved her head to the side to feel more of him.  She was participating.  A willing participant, not just trying to get rid of the visions and getting caught up in the moment.

She moved closer to him as his hand roamed down her back to the hem of her top.  His fingers skimmed under to her back, which in turn made her get even closer to him.

This wasn't happening, he kept thinking in the back of his mind.  She never in a million years would let him do this.

As they took the kiss deeper, she settled on his lap, straddling him.  He could reach all of her now, which he started to do.  Everywhere he touched was softness.  He wanted to take his mouth away from hers to touch the rest of her with it, but didn't dare because the spell would be broken.  And that would be very bad.

They devoured each other like they were the last two people on earth.  Her hands pulled Wesley's shirt out of his pants and skimmed them up his chest.  He decided to be bold and do the same.

That was when he thought he'd died and gone to heaven.  Absolutely the softest place on her he had explored yet.  A moan tried to escape her lips, but he ate it up, thinking that nothing could break their contact.

Her hips were moving in time with his, even though they were both still fully clothed.  They'd have to break the kiss, he was certain, to move to the next level.   But he didn't want that.

She had gotten all the buttons on his shirt undone or had just ripped them off.  He just knew she had somehow because he felt a little cooler as she stripped it off.  Her hands heated those portions back up quickly and efficiently.

Her top did not have buttons, but it didn't mean he couldn't raise it up to repeat when she had just done.  Would it shock her if he did rip it off of her?  Probably not, considering the hip action she was using right at the moment.

Just as Wesley started to do just that, a vision hit her full force.  He knew exactly when because she broke the kiss and pulled away slightly.  Then her body convulsed as the pain rammed into her.

Wesley held her tightly as it happened so she wouldn't fall to the floor.  He gently laid her down on the sofa in the aftermath.  He ran for the phone as she shouted info to him, all the while holding her head so it wouldn't fall off.  Angel picked up on the second ring, promising to go help the hopeless.  He got her water and aspirin for her headache.  She curled into a ball and went to sleep.   She never mentioned the incident again.

Present Day (During You're Welcome)

"Remember when we used to research together?"

It had been a few long, hard years since that afternoon on Cordy's sofa.  Both were changed in ways neither could have even fathomed back then.  Wesley didn't think that either would have chosen this path voluntarily.  It had just happened.  Too much had happened.  He missed that younger, happier Cordelia so much.

"Kicking it old school."

"You are such a dork, you know that," Cordy told him with a smirk on her face.

They had located what the symbols in Cordy's vision had looked like.  They just needed to figure out when they actually read.

"Blue flame," she whispered to him in his ear as they sat side by side in his office.

"Excuse me?"  Wesley didn't know what she was talking about.  "Do you mean the runes?"

"No silly.  That experiment.  I concluded that it was blue flames."

It dawned on him what she was talking about.  She still remembered after so many lifetimes ago.

"Really.  Well, that's interesting to know."

"And you know what else, Wes?"

"Yes, Cordy."  They looked each other straight in the eyes.

"I would have and could have in a heartbeat."

That statement made him glad and sad at the same time.  Glad that she cared about him that much and sad that they never found out how much.

Cordy moved in and placed a tender, loving kiss on his lips.  Still so soft, he thought.

"Less than a heartbeat," he answered against her lips as he once again kissed her like he meant it, which he did.

If he had known that was the last day she would remain alive, he would have said and done more.  He knew that she loved Angel, but that didn't mean they didn't care for each other deeply.  She knew that she didn't have but one day to fix things, to right the mission and get everyone back on the straight path.

Now he saw what Angel saw.  After all those years, he saw it.  He had loved her as a friend for too long.  If he just let go of his walls, then maybe he could find that kind of love and friendship again.   Someday.

FIN


End file.
